Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

March 16 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1320 GMT on Thursday:

** 3M Co said it would buy Johnson Control International Plc’s safety gear business, Scott Safety, in deal with an enterprise value of $2 billion.

** U.S. private equity firm Lone Star is closer to taking control of Portugal’s Novo Banco with an offer to inject up to 1 billion euros ($1.07 billion) into the bank in return for a 75 percent stake, sources told Reuters.

** Japanese carmaker Toyota said it plans to invest 240 million pounds ($294 million) to upgrade its car plant in central England for futureoutput, but retaining tariff-free access to EU markets after Brexit remained crucial.

** The British government said it would refer Rupert Murdoch’s planned takeover of European pay-TV group Sky to regulators to decide if the deal was in the public interest.

** Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal said he was buying a 2 billion pound ($2.45 billion) stake in Anglo American, sending the global miner’s shares sharply higher and signaling a possible return to large-scale dealmaking in the sector.

** Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has taken a stake in Rocket Internet’s recipe and ingredients business HelloFresh as part of a previously announced fundraising, the German company said.

** Virtu Financial Inc has made a bid to buy rival trading firm KCG Holdings Inc that could help Virtu bolster its businesses that have softened under reduced market volatility.

** Hong Kong’s Chow Tai Fook Enterprises said it had agreed to purchase Australian gas and electricity retailer Alinta Energy, in a deal two sources familiar with the matter said was valued at about A$4 billion ($3 billion).

** Italy’s biggest insurer Generali played down the prospects of a takeover as it reported its highest ever full-year operating profit and said it would raise dividends and speed up cost cuts.

** Saudi Arabia’s King Salman oversaw the signing of deals worth potentially $65 billion as he began a visit to Beijing on Thursday, as the world’s largest oil producer looks to cement ties with the world’s second-largest economy.

** Japan’s Daishi Bank and Hokuetsu Bank are in the final stages of agreeing to integrate operations, public broadcaster NHK said, in another move that would consolidate regional lenders as the nation’s population shrinks.

** German utility EnBW said it struck a deal to buy a 6.28 percent stake in local peer MVV Energie from French energy group Engie, which is worth 91 million euros ($97 million) based on MVV’s current market value.

** Hedge fund investor Rainer-Marc Frey has built a 7.5 percent stake in Swiss derivatives specialist Leonteq, the company said.

** The acquisition of Indian refiner Essar Oil, led by Russian oil company Rosneft, is set to be completed “in the nearest future, this month”, VTB Chief Executive Andrei Kostin told Reuters.

** Brazilian mining company Vale SA said on Wednesday it is nearing conclusion of a deal to sell a stake in Mozambique’s Moatize coal project to Japan’s Mitsui & Co Ltd .

** Starboard Value LP, the activist hedge fund that had pressured Macy’s Inc to separate its real estate from its retail business, has sold its stake in the U.S. department store operator, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. (Compiled by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru)